Khmer Kitchen Restaurant @ Siam Reap

We went to this restaurant as per recommended Dary Mol, the souvenir seller at Old Market. It's just across the street from Old Market and near to Pub Street. We ordered 3 dishes as per recommended by the waiter : Morning Glory with Pork, Khmer Curry, and Grilled Breast Chicken. The food were super nice! We like all of them. The chicken is so tender, Morning Glory is so tasty and Khmer Curry is nice! The portion are big too. We almost can not finished all of them. Also They serve you rice for free. And we ordered lemon tea and lemon grass for drink. Total bill was USD 12. It was ok price provided the portion are big and food are nice. The atmosphere is good too. Do try this restaurant if you plan to go to Siam Reap!

Details :

Khmer Kitchen Restaurant 
Mondul I, Sangkat Svay Dangkum, Siem Reap, Cambodia
+855 12 763 468

My First Trip to Cambodia

I went to Cambodia on August 2013. I spent 5 days and 4 night there which covered most of the "must go" places in both Phnom Pehn and Siam Reap. Although it was a short trip, we really enjoyed our time there! Hope to be back again soon!

"Must go" Places :

1. The Killing Field (Choeung Ek) in Phnom Penh

After checked in, we decided to go to The Killing Field (Choeung Ek). We took a Tuk-Tuk which cost us USD 15 for 2 way transport. The road is actually very dusty but the super nice Tuk-Tuk driver bought us mask to cover our nose and mouth. It took us about 30 minutes to reach the mass graves of victims of the Khmer Rouge. The entrance fee is USD 6 which includes the audio tour with many language options. As you walk around, the audio tour will guide you through the places and explain what happened in that place. I would recommend you to read a bit about Cambodia History before visiting this place. It was indeed a very sad story to hear and I pray for all the victims may their soul rest in peace. 

2. Royal Palace in Phnom Penh

Royal Palace is a 174,870 square metres complex of buildings which serves as the royal residence of the king of Cambodia. The entrance fee for Royal Palace is USD 6.50 per person and you have to wear proper attire to go in (sleeveless shirt and short pants are not allowed). The layout are divided into few sections here : Throne Hall, Moonlight Pavilion, Silver Pagoda, and Khemarin Palace. We only can visit the first 3 sections and Khemarin Palace, Royal Gardens, and some other buildings and pavilions are closed to public.

3. National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh

National Museum is just 5 minutes walk from Royal Palace. This is the largest museum in Cambodia. They have lots of collection of Khmer Art which includes ceramics, sculptures, bronzes, etc. They have more than 14,000 items here. The entrance fee for National Museum is USD 5 per person.

4. Angkor Archaeological Park

Third day, we went to Angkor Archaeological Park by Tuk-Tuk (our hotel gave us free Tuk-Tuk during our stay). We actually wanted to go there early to catch the sunrise but as it was a rainy season the hotel receptionist told us that there will be a very little chance to see the sunrise. So we decided to continue our sleep and start our journey to Angkor Archaeological Park at 9am. Once you reached Angkor Archaeological Park, you will need to buy the entrance ticket. They have the option of 1 day pass (USD 20), 3 days pass (USD 40), and 7 days pass (USD 60). Once you got your ticket, you can start you exploration of 400 square kilometres Angkor Archaeological Park. It's HUGE!!! That's why they have the 7 days pass as you can not finished the whole park in a day! But if you only have limited time like us, you can just go to the most famous one like the Temple of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom (which consist of Bayon, Baphuon temples, The Elephant Terrace, Phnom Bakheng, and many more), and Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider were filmed here). We spent almost half day to explore these temples. Each temple have their own stories and uniqueness so it's good if you read some of their history before the visit. They also have restaurant inside the park so you dont need to go out from the park to find food.

4. Shopping Experience

We only had a very limited time in Cambodia so I didn't have much time so shop. But I was very happy with my shopping experience in Cambodia. It was cheap (although is not that cheap) and the seller are very friendly! They can speak multiple language too!! We only went to 3 places to shop : Psar Chaa - Old Market in Siam Reap, Night Market in Siam Reap and Russian Market in Phnom Penh.

5. Local Delights

During our stay in Cambodia, we went to try some of recommended restaurant like Friends The Restaurant in Phnom Penh, Khmer Kitchen Restaurant in Siam Reap, and KFC. :)

6. Khmer Massage

After tired walking, we went back to hotel for a quick shower and went out for massage. Our Tuk-Tuk driver recommended us a very nice Khmer Massage Place named Lemongrass Garden Beauty and Massage. It cost us USD 15 for 90 minutes Khmer Massage... a bit more expensive than Thai Massage or Oil Massage but it's very very good!!! It's actually a dry massage (without oil) similar to Thai Massage just that without twisting and pulling so it's more relaxing... We really enjoyed it!!

 

How to Get Around

1. From and To Phnom Penh Airport

Phnom Penh is the Capital City of Cambodia and as there are more flights flying from Singapore to Phnom Penh than Siam Reap, we decided to fly to Phnom Penh. We flew in in the morning and after reading some of the travel forum, we decided to take cab from Airport to Hotel. They have flat rate USD 9 from Airport to anywhere in Phnom Penh and actually USD 9 is considered fair price as we took a taxi with meter from Hotel to Airport on the last day and it cost us USD 9 also. Once you passed immigration and collected your luggage, you can just get the taxi coupon before getting into the taxi. Another option, you can take Tuk-Tuk to Hotel with USD 7 flat rate to anywhere in Phnom Penh. It took us about 20 minutes to reach Intercontinental Hotel by taxi.

2. Phnom Penh - Siam Reap

On second day, we took a bus to Siam Reap. Bus is the cheapest way to travel between Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. There are several bus companies which serve this route and the price are vary from USD 8 to 13 but we decided to take Giant Ibis bus. We booked the bus online from their website and you can choose your seat online too (Price per person : USD 13 + service charge of USD 1 if you book online). It took around 6 hours to Siam Reap includes 1 time toilet break + 1 time lunch). This is more worth it compare to taking a flight as the air ticket is close to USD 100 for one way trip.

3. In Phnom Penh

Tuk-Tuk in Phnom Penh can cost you USD 1 - USD 5 within the city depends on how far you go. Or USD 4 per hour or USD 20 per day.

4. In Siam Reap

Similar with Phnom Penh, Tuk-Tuk in Siam Reap can cost you USD 1 - USD 5 within the city depends on how far you go. Or USD 15 per day (additional USD 5 if you want to go to see sunrise at Angkor Wat).

Friends Who Will Be Missed... :(

Friday is my last day working in my current company. I have been working here for more than 4 years and I am really attached to my colleagues here. We are not only a colleague but we also a friend. Most of my time are spent with them. I eat dinner with them more often than with my family. And we always try to find time to do some fun activities together (going for coffee/milk tea, swimming, playing basketball, karaoke, etc). Although I have been moving around few division and my closer friends are changed from time to time, it's still not easy knowing the fact that I am leaving them in only 3 working days. To remember our friendship, I would like to feature some of my colleagues (read : friends) here... 

1. (Ex) Storage Team
Siska, Ko Charles, Jo, Ivan, Ko Stephen, Mas Irawan, Panji, Agung, Freddy, Wulan, Mas Reki, Ci Imel, Adis, Mas Darsono, Dhany, Adit, Daniel, Andri, Chee Beng, Mas Tikno.

2. (Ex) STG Team
Ditha, Sonya, Sandy, Mas Fetra, Mas Gun, Pam-pam, Annisa, Ci Vony, Meike, Tita, William, Septia, Mas Eri, Gilang Pandu, Densi, Cicil, Mey, Fender, Edo, Jokun, Michael, Mas Benny, Mas Erry, and many more...

3. (Ex) BPO Team
Mba Lisa, Flo, Sisca, Vero, Rachel, Desi, Ivana, Mba Meria, Mas Novan, Lala, Josep, Firsta.

4. (Ex) ASEAN Team
Wati, Peter, Raj, Vilawan, Terence, Santika, Dipika, Michael Teoh, Vincent, Stanley, Chooi Ling, Jane, Zul, Mario, Kuan Hui, Desmond, Yee Ching, Yvonne, Jenny, Wei Liang, KT, Michelle Lee, Alison, Pauline, Kenneth, Michelle Lai, Wei Liang, Cyndi, Vun Lin, Alex, Wayne, Veron, Li Wen, Daniel, Thongchai, and many more...

Farewell is said to those colleagues
Who permanently say goodbye
But I am sure we will keep meeting

Once a colleague, but always a friend

Hope our friendship never ends

  

PS : I don't have much picture with me now but I will post more once I have collected more pictures!

Shopping @ Cambodia

We only had a very limited time in Cambodia so I didn't have much time so shop. But I was very happy with my shopping experience in Cambodia. It was cheap (although is not that cheap) and the seller are very friendly! They can speak multiple language too!! We only went to 3 places to shop : Psar Chaa - Old Market in Siam Reap, Night Market in Siam Reap and Russian Market in Phnom Penh. 

1. Psar Chaa - Old Market in Siam Reap

Old Market open in the day time although some of the shops (especially the one by the road) open until quite late. They have wet market inside where local people buy fresh fish, vegetables, etc for cooking at home. Surrounding the wet market are souvenir shops. You can find traditional Cambodian made handicrafts like clothing's silk, painting, jewelries, wood and stone carvings here. You have to bargain when you shop here... Half or more!!

Handmade Mat for USD 1 for 2 pcs ONLY!!

2. Night Market in Siam Reap

There are a few Night Market in Siam Reap and all of them are close to each other. They also sell the same stuff as what Old Market sell. I found the price here is cheaper and you still can bargain some more. For example, I can get the shirt for USD 10 for 5 pcs and fisherman pants for USD 5. Some of Night Market (like Angkor Night Market) have Fish Spa where you can pamper your foot after the tiring shopping.

3. Russian Market in Phnom Penh

We went here because they said we can find branded stuff like GAP, H&M, etc from here. Although I managed to buy some of those but I found is very difficult to shop as they are a lot of small shops inside the market and they dont have enough space to display all of them. So you have to patient enough to find what you want. They also only have 1 size for each model so you really really need your luck to find a good stuff that suits you. But the price here is very cheap. I bought a GAP top for only USD 1.50. Unfortunately it was raining when we went there so the place were flooded and we decided to go for dinner!

Friends The Restaurant @ Phnom Penh - A Training Restaurant for Former Street Youth

Friends the Restaurant is a training restaurant run by former street youth and their teachers. Established by Mith Samlanh, a local organization working with Cambodian street children, Friends the Restaurant trains the former street youth to cook or to serve the customer (become a waiter/waitress). Once they finished the training, they can be the teacher at Friends the Restaurant or they can find a job outside.

As this restaurant is quite a popular place, it's recommended to make a reservation before your visit. We didn't make any reservation before so we have to wait for about 15 minutes before we got a table. They have few tables indoor and outdoor.

We ordered a burger from special menu (Homemade Beef Burger), 2 Tapas (Honey Garlic Pork and Beef Meatballs on Pandan Noodles & Chrispy Shrimp Wantons with Sweet Chili and Lime Dip), and 1 Lime Juice. They give you water for free in case you don't want to order drink. We actually ordered a dessert but as we were too full we decided to cancel the dessert. :( Our total bill was less than 30 USD. It's very worth it because the food is super nice, the portion is big, and the staff are friendly. Some students are not very good in speaking in English yet but the teachers' English are very good. Although they are still learning but they always try their best to serve you with smile! We will definitely come back!

Details :
Friends The Restaurant
#215 Street 13 Phnom Penh
For bookings: +855 (0) 12 802 072
friendstherestaurant@mithsamlanh.org
Open 7 days a week from 11am to 9pm.